Nexus Perpetuam
by SparkYoshi
Summary: Loner. Outcast. Demon. Hateful enemies have titled them such names. But through the darkness, they are destined to cooperate in order to restore balance to the three worlds. Rated T for eventual violence. The genre may change. (CANCELED)
1. Introduction

_From the beginning of time, from the birth of Minecraftia, there existed three dimensions. These worlds existed in perfect harmony, with nothing to break that link. Each had their own special qualities and lifeforms which inhabited them, and a unique, interconnected history._

_The first dimension, and perhaps the most diverse, is known as **'the Overworld'**._

_The dimension was a beautiful place full of green vegetation, water, and life. The lifeforms that wandered the land were initially simple, but over time they grew diverse. Herds of cattle, sheep, and swine grazed the grassy plains. Flocks of chickens wandered the lakeshores. Schools of fish and giant squid swam majestically in the oceans. Wolf packs and wild ocelots ran free in the forests and jungles. Little gray insects, called silverfish, formed colonies within the stone underneath the planet. Gelatinous slimes oozed in the underground cavities close to bedrock._

_There were also monstrous beings as well. Giant spiders of various species lurked in the trees and underground mineshafts. And then there were the strange yet timid creepers- mottled green creatures with four stubby legs and a face warped into a grotesque frown. Creepers hid in the darkness of the caves and were hardly ever seen, although they were notorious for their tendency to explode whenever threatened. And legends told of legendary dragons with ruby-colored scales that breathed scorching flames and ruled the blue skies._

_The Overworld remained this way for a long time, and it seemed like eons later before the humans arrived._

_The humans seemed to appear out of nowhere. It's popular belief that humans were brought to the Overworld by Notch himself. Humans introduced a concept that had never before exposed itself to Minecraftia- the concept of crafting and building. Using their superb intelligence, humans settled in various lands and formed communities. These communities evolved into massive complexes, both aboveground and underground, known as strongholds. An era of prosperity awaited the fruitful human population, as they made more and more advancements. _

_They discovered the treasures that were buried deep underground, such as gold and diamond. They discovered crafting recipes one after another, as well as inventing some of their own. They tapped into the inherent magic of Minecraftia to use enchantments and create potions. Over time, a small group of expert philosophers learned of the existence of another realm. _

_This second dimension was named **'the Nether'**._

_Knowing nothing else about this realm, and not wanting their new discovery to be stolen from them, they kept this news a secret from almost all of humanity. Using their knowledge, they conceived a formula to enter this realm and explore it. They would create a portal frame and set it alight, which would trigger its activation. However, although their method wasn't flawed, it was incomplete- it only allowed for one-way travel. Despite their frantic attempts to fix this, they could not figure out a solution and decided it was unavoidable. _

_Finally, once they had finished all the calculations, they constructed the portal and revealed their plan to the people. They promised that they would claim the dimension in the name of humanity. And thus, the philosophers and various other explorers entered the portal, closing it behind them. They were never seen again. So centuries later, in the Overworld, the sorcery to enter the Nether was never rediscovered, and it faded away as a mere myth._

_What was never revealed to the people of the Overworld, however, was that the group succeeded in reaching the Nether. The explorers discovered a realm unlike anything they had seen before. It was an unbelievably searing-hot world filled with rough red rock that would burn forever when lit, and dark sand that contained deceased souls, slowing you down to a crawl if you walked in it. Bright, glowing crystal lined the ceiling of the cavernous world, being one of the few benign sources of light. Instead of water, only lava filled the oceans spreading across the floor of the Nether. To eyes used to the landscape of the Overworld, it seemed uninhabitable. But then, they came upon a strange clump of organic material that resembled reddish blemishes growing out of the soul sand. Upon discovering that they contained drinkable liquid, the explorers rejoiced as they now found a source of water. They named these edible organisms 'Nether warts', after their peculiar appearance._

_It soon became apparent that there was more life in the Nether than there initially appeared. There were hostile, floating white creatures with many tentacles, called ghasts, that shot molten fireballs at anything that invaded its territory. There were floating skull-like creatures with levitating pillars around them, who emitted smoke and also blew fire at anything that threatened them. Finally, there were huge, gooey black cubes with glowing yellow eyes and they split apart as they jumped, who resembled the slimes from the Overworld. _

_As the explorers traveled further, they encountered a large tribe of natives who resembled bipedal pigs, accordingly nicknamed 'pigmen'. The pigmen were sentient and welcomed the visitors, and upon learning of their plight, began to teach them how to survive. They taught the humans how to hunt ghasts for food and how to skin the white creatures of their thick, leathery hides. They taught them how to kill the blazes and take their rods to use as fuel in makeshift furnaces, as well as an efficient component in brewing stands. In return, the humans presented the pigmen with wood and saplings, something that the pigmen had never seen before. The humans and pigmen began to coexist, living together in an integrated community. As generations and centuries went by, the population grew larger and larger, and the humans and pigmen worked together to create massive fortresses and cities out of brick, and they formed an empire. This kingdom was ruled by a monarchy, fittingly, and was a prosperous nation, known as the Nether Empire. _

_Like the humans in the Overworld, the humans in the Nether gradually forgot about their original origins over time, and the Overworld became no more than a mere legend, a myth. The blueprints to create a Nether portal were lost in time as well, offering no way for them to go back._

_You may have noticed by now that the final dimension hasn't been mentioned once. Accordingly, this is the only world which has never been traversed by humans, and so little is known about it that it is merely a rumor among the people of the other two realms._

_The third dimension is fittingly known as **'the End'**._

_It is a realm enveloped in darkness. Floating in the void are vast islands, composed of strangely textured, whitish stone. Large, tall obsidian pillars rise up from the stone in inconsistent places, with enchanted crystals on the top of them. It is absolutely silent, and almost no light shines. The most common inhabitants of this strange world are tall, dark humanoids with glowing violet eyes. These beings are called Endermen. They are very peculiar creatures, and no one has knowledge of their true nature. A few of them reside in the Overworld, allowing for limited human observation. Endermen have the ability to teleport at will, although no one knows how they are capable of achieving such a feat. They appear to ignore the world around them unless eye contact is made. If someone makes eye contact with an Enderman... well, it's safe to say that no human lived to tell the tale. One of the strangest behaviors witnessed by an Enderman is the fact that they have a habit of picking up blocks, examining them, and then putting them back down. It is unknown why they do this._

_But Endermen aren't the only inhabitants of the island. There is another, much larger, and much more powerful creature. It has scales as black as night with silver horns and spikes that go down its back, and leathery wings that somehow manage to be even darker than its scales. This is the Ender Dragon, who's origin is unknown._

_The dragon has unbelievable power, from being able to breath incinerating purple flames to the ability to destroy any matter it touches at will. Truly, it is a monster to be feared. The Ender Dragon is revered as a god by the Endermen, who know to stay a respectful distance away from it, as the beast has an uncanny tendency to devour any creature that happens to get too close. But most of the time, the dragon simply sleeps on the obsidian pillars, or eats some of the enchanted crystals, which seem to compose a large portion of its diet. Since the crystals always regenerate, there is no absence of food for the beast._

_However, there is a time when the dragon is not just eating or sleeping, and it happens only a few times in the dragon's life. Since the dragon's lifespan extends for centuries, this makes the rare occurrences a very important event._

_Seemingly at random, the dragon takes flight and flies away from the island. It does not return for almost a year. When it returns, a mottled black-and-purple egg is held in its claws- the dragon's egg. It is believed that there are other islands, with other dragons, and they migrate every couple centuries in order to mate. Once the female lays the single egg, it is brought by one of the parents back to their home island to be looked after. It does not seem to matter whether the male or female parent raises the hatchling. The mating season will not occur again until the time when the young dragons are weaned, which usually takes several generations to complete._

_Due to the risky nature of only having a single egg, the Ender Dragon is fiercely protective of its offspring at this time, and will usually take up residence on the tallest obsidian pillar on the island in order to incubate the egg. Usually, this pillar also has an enchanted crystal, so the dragon doesn't have to leave the egg for food very often. This incubation period is a vital period in the Ender Dragon's life cycle, and it will become enraged if anything even does as much as approaches its precious child. This usually provokes it to destroy everything in sight._

_The final mating season period happens at the very end of the dragon's life, in order to ensure its island remains inhabited by a dragon. Therefore, of all the select few times the dragon mates, this is the only occurrence where failure is not an option. And thus the cycle will continue, as it has for eons._

_But... times have changed._

_Within recent centuries, something has exposed the dimensions to a new darkness._

_In the Overworld, the huge human population has suddenly dwindled down to a scattered couple hundred. No one knows for sure what happened, and those who do remember only whisper it as 'The Incident'. Whatever happened in 'The Incident' destroyed most of humanity, and all of the large communities and complexes along with it. Natural disasters seem to be happening more often, and the beasts of the caverns seem to be growing increasingly hostile. Monsters are appearing, and no one knows the cause._

_In the Nether, the Nether Empire is on the very edge of a civil war. The pigmen and humans are having worsening hostile tensions due to traditional differences, and royalty is struggling to keep peace in the empire. The monsters of the Nether are getting increasingly aggravated for unknown reasons, and the very fall of the Empire may be in part due to a traitor in their midst._

_And in the End, it started as nothing outstanding, nothing important. It was the final mating and incubation stage of the dragon's life, and the dragon was working extremely hard to protect its egg. But one dark day, the Ender Dragon flew away to feed on the crystals, and it returned to its nest no less than ten minutes later. There, it came upon a sight that no dragon would want to see. A scream of a roar shattered through the previous silence that filled the End._

_The dragon's egg was stolen._

* * *

**Well, well, looks like I finally started up my Minecraft fanfiction! Hopefully I'll get somewhere with this fanfiction, unlike some other fanfictions I've made. My aim for this is to be more original than other fanfics I've seen on here. A couple overused concepts will not be used, although a few others will be. There will be some key differences which you'll notice as I post more chapters. :/**

**Be warned- although this introduction is kind of long (at least for my standards), the following chapters probably won't be very long. Sorry.**

**Review if you like. I'll write a new chapter if this gets positive reviews~**


	2. Prince of the Nether

**_~ Chapter 1 - Prince of the Nether ~_**

* * *

It was midday in the Nether. Or perhaps it wasn't- it was difficult to tell the time of day within the hell-like world, as the only indication was a slight change in the light level. Or perhaps there was no time cycle here at all, but that's not the point of this chapter, so moving on to the true issue.

Within the castle at the very center of the kingdom, composed completely of blood-red brick, something was stirring. It seemed to be the only interruption in the tension that had arisen since the relations between the humans and pigmen degraded, although not by much. It was equally as tense and foreboding in itself.

The king of the Nether paced back and forth, deeply disturbed. The troubled man was outside the entrance to the castle's emergency room, for a good reason- his wife, the queen, had just gone into labor. He wasn't sure if he could bear it.

When he had first heard his wife joyfully announcing that she was pregnant, he wasn't sure what to believe. The two had not been able to have children for many years, a very worrying thing for royalty, as the children were destined to inherit the throne from their parents. Perhaps it was due to the sickly state of the queen recently, or maybe it wasn't Notch's will that they should have children. So after the initial shock of this news had passed, he received it with an equal amount of joy. But now that the time had actually come... he didn't know what to think.

As he continued pacing, muttering to himself, the royal guards (both pigmen and human) exchanged nervous glances. The king never ordinarily acted like this- normally, he was a cheerful and level-headed man who took his role seriously, but also enjoyed having a good amount of fun, such as throwing parties directly in the heart of the castle. He was well-liked by most of the kingdom, even by both the pigmen and humans, who were growing increasingly hostile to one another. But now, it was so different, that he seemed like a completely different man.

After what seemed like hours, a tall, thin doctor exited the room. The king, already jumpy, let out an involuntary jerk, before uncertainly walking up to him.

"Your Highness... it's over," the doctor said in a tightly controlled voice. He paused, and, seeing that the other man was expectantly waiting for more, continued. "You have a healthy son. He seems to take after you a lot, in terms of appearance."

The king was rather pleased by that fact. He considered himself to be plain yet somehow good-looking, with long black hair, pale skin, and dark red eyes, all which were common for a Netherian human to possess. But still, that note of similarity did nothing to ease the biting concern that he wanted desperately to be answered. His son was fine, but...

"And my wife? How is she?" He asked, hoping for the best.

The doctor took a shaky breath before responding. "She's... gone. She died immediately after the birth was complete." He gave the king a sorrowful, sympathizing look. "Her last wish was for the child's name to be Jomei."

And at that moment, the king of the Nether's world crashed down around him.

* * *

**~ POV – Jomei ~**

_Eighteen years later..._

"Do it again, Jomei! Do it again!"

Small yet jubilant cheers filled the castle. The royal teenager grinned playfully as he, once again, threw the blaze rod across the rocky courtyard. A small magma cube at his side tracked the rod's flight with its glowing amber eyes. A small group of children, both pigmen and human, watched the scene with excitement.

As soon as the rod struck the ground, Jomei yelled, "Vala, fetch!"

The magma cube instantly went into action, sliding and leaping across the ground faster than lightning. Within no time at all, she reached the blaze rod and quickly enveloped it, swallowing it into her molten depths. Seconds later, there was no indication that the rod had existed at all. The cube looked up at her master hopefully.

Jomei sighed, and, _tsk-tsking_ to himself slightly, casually walked up to the creature. "Vala, you're not supposed to eat it, you're supposed to _fetch _it."

The children laughed as the Vala averted her gaze from her master's in shame. Jomei smiled as he reached down and pat the top of her head. Contrary to popular belief, magma cubes were not burning to the touch on the outside- merely warm. It was only the inner core of their bodies that is hotter than lava. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. Just spit it out, alright?"

The pet jumped eagerly at this opportunity to please her master, and she immediately spit out the rod through the side of her body. Although it was slightly steaming, it was intact. After checking to see if it had cooled down enough to pick up, Jomei took the rod and placed it back in the pocket of his black jeans.

The group of kids clapped happily, jumping up and down and cheering. The prince had been at this for about an hour now, and the children never found it to get old. Although widely regarded as a senseless, snob of a jerk, Jomei was actually a good person at heart- he just had a tendency not to show it. It was common knowledge that he got along perfectly with both races of Netherian inhabitants, especially children. This was a feature that stood out, considering that the Nether Empire was on the very brink of a conflict.

"Master Jomei!"

The prince turned around in response. A royal servant came rushing up to him, panting. "You're requested to return to the castle," he breathed heavily.

Jomei gave the servant an expression dripping with boredom. Again? He's definitely been through this before. "Let me guess- my father wants me to attend a council meeting about dealing with the civil war, even though I'm absolutely terrible at political debates and probably won't help in the slightest except for speaking 'out of turn' every couple sentences."

"Actually, yes."

He sighed. Although he had nothing against his father, and in fact got along with him greatly, he wondered when he would learn that Jomei wasn't suited for political meetings. Sure, he was specifically tutored in them, but the subject never really interested him. Then again, this meeting was about a possibly upcoming civil war that could tear the empire apart. Without a complaint, and firmly ordering Vala the magma cube to stay, he went up the nether brick steps and down the castle corridor. He had to go into his room to change into more 'formal' clothing. A casual, light gray ghast-skin shirt and leathery black jeans wouldn't cut it for the meeting.

Now, the war was something that both Jomei and his father wanted to prevent at all costs. It started out as slight discrimination between humans and pigmen, and then escalated to the point where the two races couldn't even stand being near each other without hurling insults. The only exception from this were the children, who still got along fine, but it still seemed like a war was brewing. The council was desperately trying to find a way to halt the inevitable, before it was too late.

After a couple moments of uneventful walking, Jomei entered his personal quarters, which were rather glamorous. Large, adorned with colored silk and carpeted flooring, as well as a large comfy bed and wardrobe, it was definitely something a lower person in society would be envious of. As he was used to it by now, it hardly impressed him.

The eighteen-year-old examined his clothing selection, and picked out an outfit that was neither too fancy nor too drab. Well, okay, maybe a _little_ on the fancy side- he was wearing a refined white, long-sleeved shirt, with a black cloak and a fancy collar, as well as gray leggings and coppery-red shoes. Overall, he thought he looked pretty impressive.

_Definitely a prince of the Nether,_ Jomei thought proudly.

And without further ado, he walked off in the direction of the council room.

* * *

It was apparent from when he walked in that the meeting was just about to start, with practically all the council members there. The king was there as well.

"Ah, my son, so glad you could make it," Jomei's father welcomed warmly.

The prince did not respond and sat down at his assigned seat, feeling very disinterested.

"Now... let the council meeting begin."

* * *

***listened to Cube Land on loop while writing this***

**Sorry, kind of short... I was going to add the whole council meeting scene, but I decide that would fit better for a later chapter. I got writer's block way too many times with this because I've never written anything like it before D:  
**

**If the OCs in this chapter turn you off, don't worry, you'll see your familiar and all-time favorite miner/survivor next chapter... POV switch! :D  
**

**(I love reviews, so review, please?~)**


	3. A Loner in the Wilderness

_**~Chapter 2 – A Loner in the Wilderness~**_

* * *

The sun rose over the horizon of the sky, gradually lighting up a large forest which had previously been shrouded in darkness. The light reflected off of the flowing, large river, which snaked around the outskirts of the forest, heading for the ocean. In the distance, a tall, steep mountain range overshadowed the relatively miniscule grove of oak and birch trees. Wild animals stirred at the sudden brightness, and many of them called out to announce the new dawn. Meanwhile, the monsters of the night withdrew into the darkness, as contact with any sort of light would burn them alive.

In the very center of the forest stood a small, wooden cabin. It was a very modest shelter, with merely a single floor and a basement. The first floor was split into two rooms, one being a kitchen and the other a small bedroom. The only purpose the basement served was for furnaces and storage. In the back of the house was a fairly large chicken coop, as well as a small wheat farm. The lone owner of the house felt no need to expand it further- he never needed a lot of space.

On the same topic, the start of the day was not needed for the inhabitant of this house, as he was already awake. In fact, he wasn't even in the house at the time of sunrise- he was exploring.

* * *

**~POV: Steve~**

Gritting his teeth, the young man swung his iron pickaxe into the cold stone wall. The chunk of rock he struck chipped away to reveal the mineral hiding behind it. In the dim light of the cave, he initially did not recognize it, but within a few seconds he recognized it as coal.

Steve suppressed a sigh. He was hoping for something more valuable, especially since he was mining at a lower altitude than usual, but coal would do. Besides, he was low on torches, and he didn't particularly enjoy the demons of darkness catching him unaware. He mined the stone surrounding the black blots, freeing them, and soon he had a fairly large quantity of coal exposed. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a couple of sticks, and using some spare string, he crafted a few makeshift torches.

After placing the lit torches on the sides of the cave, he felt slightly safer, although not by much. He had been exploring this cave for several hours now- it was located in the side of a mountain near his house. This entire time, he had not encountered a single monster, which, to him, was disturbing rather than comforting. Normally, the monsters would be after him constantly- he still didn't know why. It's been that way since he was a child, which was mostly why he was living alone and far away from society. He didn't want other people to be in danger while he was around.

His thoughts wandered back to some of his earliest and most traumatic memories. How long ago was it...?

* * *

_~FLASHBACK~_

* * *

_A stormy plain, in the dead of night..._

"_NOOOOOOOOO!"_

"_Kid, you alright?"_

"_Mom and Dad... M-mom and Dad are..."_

"_Nevermind that, we got to get you to safety!"_

"_The monsters... they k-killed my mom and dad!"_

"_Monsters? That's what these things are called?"_

* * *

"_The kid's having an emotional breakdown. Take it easy on him."_

* * *

"_What's your name?"_

"_S-Stephen... but my parents always called me Steve..."_

"_Steve it is, then. Why were those monsters attacking you?"_

"_I-I don't know..."_

* * *

"_Steve, here's a sword."_

"_A sword...?"_

"_Yep. Today we're going to teach you how to fight."_

* * *

"_I'm leaving. I don't want to put this village in danger anymore."_

* * *

Something suddenly made Steve's hair stand up on end, and he whipped around, his hand on the hilt of his sword. For a split second, he could have sworn that he saw slitted purple eyes in the darkness, but now there was nothing there. The tension lasted a good five minutes before he began to relax somewhat. Why did he feel so nervous lately? Hopefully he wasn't going insane.

He shook his head. He was being more paranoid than usual. Of course, when your life is on the line twenty-four hours a day, you had every right to be paranoid. But recently, in the past few weeks, things were getting stranger. More monsters were showing up at night. And he constantly felt like _something_ was watching him, but it was gone whenever he turned around.

Just as he was considering that perhaps he should head back to his house, he heard a foreboding noise.

_SSSSSSSSssssssssssssssssss..._

Fortunately, Steve had very good reaction time.

He leaped back, unsheathing his gleaming iron sword and getting out of the creeper's explosion range just in time. Noticing that its prey was nowhere near it, the mottled green creature stopped itself from exploding. It hissed in agitation and stumbled determinedly towards the human. Apparently not all the monsters were hiding, after all.

Steve lunged with superb agility and swiftly stabbed it through the chest. It gurgled and leaked greenish blood before falling dead to the ground. With some difficulty, he pulled his sword out of the creeper's body, revealing the entire weapon to be coated in the dripping green substance. Disgusted, he cleaned it off on his ragged, turquoise shirt, before sliding it back in its sheath. He was definitely going to need to wash his clothes after this.

After a quick scanning of his surroundings, he saw no other creatures or monsters approaching. Breathing a small sight of relief, he grabbed the remainder of the coal and shoved the black rocks into his nearly-full backpack. It was starting to grow heavy, and he reminded himself of his wish a few seconds ago- to return to his house.

Therefore, he turned around and started to trot back the way he came, following the torches he placed earlier as reminders. The fact there was absolute silence except for his footsteps on the cold stone of the cave unnerved him, and he remained on guard the entire time. He wasn't too concerned that he hadn't explored all of the cave- the cavern was massive, and would take countless days to explore. Besides, he had marked its location and could always return later.

Eventually, he reached the gaping, open mouth of the cavern and first took notice of how it was early morning. Time had flown since he initially entered the cave, which was in the middle of the night. He continued on in the direction of his house, but he still didn't feel safe.

He still felt like something was watching him...

* * *

**I swear, these chapters keep getting shorter and shorter. :/**

**(and uneventful fight scenes and drama FTW)**

**So, good ol' Steve! Main character #2. I'm giving him a (hopefully) fairly interesting backstory, and if the little tidbits in the short flashback didn't satisfy you, have no fear. There WILL be an in-depth version of it later on.**

**If you liked this chapter, please review~**


	4. The Council Meeting

_**~ Chapter 3 – The Council Meeting ~**_

* * *

**~ POV: Jomei ~**

As the prince expected, the meeting was extremely boring.

Obviously, he did pay attention at some points, but only when 1) the idiots got into an argument and started raising their voices above the preferred volume or 2) he sensed that someone was going to ask his opinion on the situation. In times when he did have to talk in the debate, he did his duty and gave a quick opinion but hardly elaborated, and he attempted to stay out of larger conversations. The reason has been stated- he generally was disinterested in politics, which isn't exactly a good trait to display when you're royalty.

The subject of the debate was overall the same- the entire council, of about a dozen humans, were discussing how to deal with the possible civil war that may erupt due to the tensions between pigmen and humans. Jomei had the desire to make a snide remark on how the human-exclusive population of the monarchy might have some contributing factors, but he kept his mouth shut.

The prince noticed how it was usually the same people who started arguing- namely, his father and five or six other people. The rest of the group simply offered suggestions between the fight-fests. The ideas ranged from allowing the war to break out to various forms of appeasement, neither which anybody could agree on.

Overall, boring, boring, _boring_. Especially since Jomei couldn't find a form of entertainment to keep himself busy.

Eventually, a good hour into the meeting, he took notice of how only one person hadn't spoken up yet. It was the man named Xavier, and he was merely observing the conversation intently, an expressionless look on his face, which didn't seem normal. Coincidentally, he also happened to be a guy Jomei hated with a burning passion.

Xavier was roughly in his mid-forties, with a very similar build and general appearance to the rest of the Nether-based humans. The strange thing about him was that he had been hired in the council literately out of nowhere- he had showed up as a nobody and requested the job. And the strangest thing is, the king accepted it. Jomei had absolutely no clue why- maybe it was due to particularly charming and intelligent nature at first glance, but the prince had seen exposed traces of his true nature. Xavier had a very manipulative and cunning personality, preferring everything to go his way and not liking to alter his opinion, and often treated everyone as if they were lower status than him. This especially applied to Jomei, when no one else was around, infuriatingly.

So Jomei attempted to entertain himself by starting a glaring contest, to absolutely no success, as Xavier seemed to have turned a blind eye in his direction. Lovely.

About fifteen minutes passed by before something eventful occurred, and this time it definitely caught Jomei's attention.

Xavier finally spoke up.

"Why are we focusing so much on one side of the issue instead of both?" He questioned.

The thing about the man was that he seemed to gather everyone's attention just by talking, so everyone fell silent.

It was Jomei's father who responded. "What do you mean?"

Xavier let out a sigh that to Jomei, at least, sounded forced. "For this entire discussion, we've been only discussing the problems with the pigmen side of the conflict. What we're not seeing is that it affects the entire population as a whole- both humans and pigmen. We must find a form of appeasement that pleases both sides."

Indeed, that subject had been touched upon but never fully explored. Despite his dislike of the man, the prince had to admit that he was extremely observant. Still, he felt that something was off...

The councilman wasn't finished. "I suggest that we do not boost the rights of any particular side. That would only make the people more indignant about the situation and feel as though we're favoring one race over another. Let us go back to basics- what started this severe discrimination? The fear of a particular race, and the fear that the other race would rise up and destroy them. An irrational fear, to be sure. To ease the tension, I propose we give widespread assurance to the public that there will be no war- a vow we will make sure we keep. Perhaps after some discipline the people will learn."

… Okay, that was fairly disturbing. To Jomei, it wasn't just because this was very uncharacteristic of Xavier, or that he was rather good at making speeches.

The disturbing thing was that _Jomei actually agreed with him. _He felt that the problem needed to be solved on both sides, and he realized that reassuring the people was probably the best action for the council to take at this point. He wanted direct action, but nothing exceedingly major.

The rest of the council seemed to have the same thoughts as him, as they were sitting there, quite a few of them looking dumbstruck.

"... Well, Xavier, I would never suspect you would be the one to suggest that," Jomei's father replied. "However, it seems like a fairly good option, but it may require some, ah, polishing... we will discuss that at a later point. Xavier, care to meet me in my quarters tomorrow for further discussion? This meeting has been fairly long already..."

And with that, the council was dismissed.

Normally, Jomei would have been elated at this point, as most meetings are extremely uneventful and irritating, but some nagging suspicion had formed a knot in his stomach that he couldn't quite get rid of.

He still didn't trust Xavier...

* * *

As Jomei walked down the nether brick hallways to his private quarters, he constantly reviewed the meeting in his head, growing edgier and edgier by the minute.

Naturally, the idea put forth by Xavier seemed harmless, and Jomei overall agreed with it (a fact he was still loathe to admit), but he detected that something was off. Why would you give your full reassurance that no war would happen? What if war did break out, and you failed to keep your vow? Not only would the people lose all trust in their government, they would take out their hatred on the other side. If it failed, it would result in disaster... and for some reason, the implications if it failed were far more striking than the implications if it succeeded.

And the thing was, Jomei was _sure _that Xavier knew about these risks. There was something he was hiding, and a concealed look in those red eyes which gave the exact same impression. He also had a rather forced, neutral look when he was stating his speech. Was this a ploy to gain power, or something different? The prince wouldn't put it past him to do it... he had already manipulated council decisions in the past in order to gain a higher-ranking position. Who's to say this could be any different? He should briefly check Xavier's quarters in order to see if he's up to anything, just to be safe...

After reaching his quarters, Jomei changed back into 'casual' clothing- the white shirt and black jeans combo- although he kept the black cloak since he found it stylish. He considered bringing his obsidian dagger along with him, but he decided against it since the circumstances of his plan weren't inherently dangerous. Unless there were some rogue ghasts or blazes around, which he greatly doubted, but daggers weren't very suited to fighting those kinds of beasts.

The prince left his room and quietly slipped down the hallway. Although the Nether didn't have day or night, this was usually the time when the Netherian people- including the fortress's inhabitants- were expected to sleep. He was extremely careful not to be found wandering the hallways after the netherrack torches had been put out. Last time he did that, when he was ten years old, he was restricted to his room for about a week. It wasn't a very pleasant experience, and it definitely damaged his pride. Sure, he had Vala to keep him company, but there's only so much company you can get from a pet magma cube.

Most of the rooms were identical in terms of size and distance away from one another- Xavier's chamber wasn't extremely far away from Jomei's room, thankfully. Oddly enough, the door was open. When the prince checked over the edge, the room was completely empty. Strange. Maybe the man was elsewhere- probably the underground offices for the councilmen. They were known to work late. Or maybe he was working on something besides political papers...? Jomei pushed the paranoid thoughts out of his brain and began heading to the stairwell.

It became apparent as he went down a floor that he was going to need a light- with all the torches put out, it was literately pitch-black in the underground, windowless corridors. Thankfully, Jomei had some spare netherrack on hand, and he quickly fashioned a makeshift torch after striking it on the wall several times to create a fire. Even then, he couldn't see very far as he began trotting down the hallway.

And this is where he got stuck. He had never been in the underground portion before. Actually, he had, once. But he was quite unfamiliar with the locations of each individual office... where was Xavier's?

Just as he wondered this, he heard a clinking noise behind him. He turned around to find a golden sword held at his throat.

"Going somewhere?" The pigman guard wielding it snarled.

* * *

It was times like these where Jomei wished he took more self-defense classes.

Oh, and bringing his dagger would have been nice, too.

The pigman literately had no difficulty in beating him up, tying his legs together and his hands behind his back, and calling in some other guards before violently dragging him down the hallway. Fortunately, he wasn't gagged, so he could holler all the colorful language he wanted. Not like the guards cared.

Normally, Jomei got along with both races, so for a split second this left him shocked. Then the obvious answer came to him- these guards were rogue traitors, and were serving someone other than the king. That means they didn't give a damn about him or anyone else as long as they were following orders. And the fact they were behaving this way around the _Nether prince_ meant that there was a rat in the government who hated the king. It's a lovely situation that he got tied up in, wasn't it?

Eventually, the guards hauled him into a bright room with a smooth, stone floor and a glowstone-lit ceiling. This was most likely one of the offices. They positioned him upright, but they still had him pinned down so he couldn't move. At least he could move his neck and head freely. And looking up, who did Jomei see?

None other than Xavier himself, with a smug look that made the prince want to slug him in the jaw. Preferably breaking it. Alas, being tied up did not allow such desires to be fulfilled.

"Oh. It's you. Fancy seeing you here. How's the weather?" Jomei asked dryly.

"You are slightly too nosy for your own good, Jomei," Xavier said in a dangerous tone.

"From what I've seen so far, you appear to be staging a coup which will probably disown my father and the government. I have all rights to be nosy," the prince retorted icily, although in the back of his mind he was afraid what Xavier had planned for him now that he had found him out.

A smile twitched at the corners of the man's mouth. "Well, I'm not the mastermind behind it all. Since I'm going to kill you anyway-" Jomei mentally cringed, although he kept a neutral face- "I think I'll let you in on some of the plan.

"For a moment, let's just pretend that the king was _assassinated..._ and by whom, no one knows. And then, the prince is _also _killed. And this is immediately after the government just reassured there would be no more war or conflict-" Xavier looked like he was thoroughly enjoying the dawning look of horror on Jomei's face- "Causing a complete loss of trust with the government. The two races begin to literately fight over which race _did _kill the king, resulting in a rather entertaining civil war."

"You're mad," Jomei managed to get out.

Xavier shrugged. "Don't credit me- I wasn't the one who came up with it. My master orchestrated every part of it. I'm just enjoying the ride. You, on the other hand..."

"...Who's this 'master'?"

He grinned. "Do you honestly think I'm going to tell you?"

Jomei, rather disgusted, asked another question to fill in the gap which was left in the overall statement. "What's in it for you? What are you getting out of starting a national civil war?"

Xavier was looking downright bloodthirsty at the moment. "Isn't it obvious? _Power._"

The prince gave him a blank look. "Power?"

"Indeed. You see, in the midst of the chaos, I will come to rule as the new king, a striving power to look on to. The war will be ended as the conflict eases, and I will have gained all the support and power I need. My master also will grant me aid needed to fulfill my wish. He will grant power to all who faithfully serve him! My dream since I was a mere boy will be finally realized!..."

Jomei had lost interest in paying attention about halfway through the speech, as something across the room had caught his eye. Blueprints lined the walls, including one that seemed to be of a rectangular frame made of... obsidian? There was an additional diagram of it being lit on fire, and then strange distortion being formed between it...

"... And now that you know my plans, I can't have you live."

Snapped back to reality, Jomei glared defiantly at the man. He refused to abandon his inherent pride, even in the face of certain death. One of the pigmen guards had raised his sword up, prepared to decapitate him. Or maybe he would simply slice open his throat and let him die slowly and painfully. Either way, he was going to die.

"Have you ever wondered what happens after you die?"

The prince tensed, awaiting his doom.

"That... I'll leave up to your imagination."

The pigman struck.

A blinding flash of light, searing pain, panicked shouting, and everything went dark.

* * *

_Is he alive?_

_Yes, but barely. I saved him just in time._

_The boy cannot die. He's too important._

_Surely. He has the potential to be one of **them.**_

_Them? I assume you mean...?_

_Yes. The ones who will defeat... you know._

_Oh. **Him.**_

_I thought after the first war he would have learned not to repeat history, but alas, he is at it again._

_Do you truly think that they will have what it takes to bring him down?_

_Yes._

_Well, okay, Herobrine... if you are certain..._

_However, the boy..._

_What? What about the boy?_

_Saving him from the mortal realm took a huge toll on him. He has fallen into the times and dimensions, and I am not sure where he'll resurface._

_Unfortunate, but sacrifices must be made for the bigger picture. Especially to defeat **him**..._

_Indeed, brother._

… _End of conversation?_

_End of conversation._

* * *

**I hate this chapter. **

**It's (relatively) long, it took forever to write and I'm not happy with how it came out. At least the point got across... u_u**

**Just a quick note: I know I said in the description of this that there are going to be three main characters, and although that will stay true, I think the POVs will mostly be limited to Steve and Jomei. The third character gets very little POV time... and there will be some extra characters besides the central three, don't worry ;)**

**Also, for some strange reason, I imagine all Netherian humans have a slight British accent. Don't judge me.**

**Review if you like~**


	5. Light in the Sky

_**~ Chapter 4 – Light in the Sky ~**_

* * *

**~ POV: ? ~**

_Birth._

_The miracle of life._

_Who was he? Where was he?_

_A reddish, dark realm, made of stone and fire. Fire. So much fire. It didn't seem to hurt him, so he didn't mind it._

_It was inhabited by many creatures. Smaller creatures. Inferior creatures. They feared him, avoided him, let him be to himself._

_He had a dream, where strange men spoke to him. Taught him his purpose. He was to rule this land. Be the most powerful. Govern it with might._

_He liked it. He liked his dominion. He liked being in control. There was no denying that._

_Then... why did he feel so empty?_

* * *

**~ POV: Steve ~**

As Steve walked home, he took note of his surroundings. Of course, he had seen it many, many times before, but it was still pleasant to look at. Clusters of oak and birch trees filled the landscape, thinning out near the mountains where the cave entrance was. Recently, he had paved a gravel road to his mining cave, so he wouldn't get lost when he went back and forth. Since his house was directly in the center of the forest, he had a long way to go.

Thankfully, it was morning, so most of the monsters that lingered outside had burned to ashes by now. He had never truly understood how that worked. Sun was obviously shining on him, but he was never set on fire, so he could only assume that it was a thing that only applied to the zombies and skeletons. However, he still had to watch out for the non-flammable creepers, if his encounter in the cave hadn't been enough. And perhaps he should be wary of spiders... the massive arachnids seemed to generally ignore him in daylight, but lately they seemed to be a tad more aggressive. It didn't help that they were extremely fast and could climb up nearly any surface...

Bizarrely, as Steve walked at a relatively slow and steady pace throughout the forest, no monsters appeared. That creeper in the cave was the only monster he had seen in almost two days. He supposed he should be thankful- after all, being plagued by monsters since he was child, he's had his life threatened almost daily. In a way, it was rather nice... although he remained on guard. You could never be too careful.

Eventually, his house came into view. He had a fence around his wooden house to prevent any unwanted intruders from sneaking in. He casually opened the fence gate to let himself through, securely closing it behind him. He walked up and pushed open the front door...

_WOOF!_

… Only to have a gray-white blur rush out and tackle him to the ground, and start licking his face rapidly.

"Layla, get _off_," Steve grumbled to his crazed wolf, firmly shoving her off his chest as he struggled to pick himself up from the doorstep. The canine obediently kept her distance, although with visible difficulty, as her body and tail were wagging crazily, and her jaw was lazily dropped open in a grin. A lolling, drooling, stupidly happy grin.

Steve sighed as he pushed aside the wooden door and entered the house, Layla happily prancing behind him. He had found the wolf around the same time he found this forest. He had learned, from some books in his adoptive village, that wolves usually traveled in packs. However, Layla was traveling completely by herself- either she left voluntarily or she was abandoned. She had stalked him for several weeks, half-starved, feeding on the food scraps he left behind, until he finally decided to keep her as a pet. Since then, she had grown quite plump due to the fresh supply of chicken she was provided. Additionally, he tied a strap of leather around her neck as a sort of collar, occasionally recoloring or adding things to it. She was by no means useless- she had saved his neck from monsters quite a few times, switching from _hyperactive-wolf-pet-buddy_ to _vicious-monster-slaying-machine _in less than a second.

And, for someone who was living alone, Steve needed a companion.

He walked in on the wooden floor, took off his backpack, and dropped it near the door, along with his sword and pickaxe. His backpack was relatively heavy, containing a load of ores- a bulk of coal, several chunks of iron, a pile of redstone dust, and a small piece of gold. Personally, the only ores he used much were coal and iron. Gold was flashy, but not very useful. He knew that redstone conducted electricity and could be used to create complex circuitry, but he wasn't experienced at engineering. He was experienced at surviving.

He collapsed on his bed, exhausted from his day of mining. He noted the bed's stiffness, and made a mental note to go collect some wool later to cushion it. He sat there for a few moments, lost in thought.

A chill went down his spine as he felt something's gaze on him. His attention immediately snapped to the window, but he saw nothing.

He remained tense until, Layla laid her head on his knee with a whimper, eyes filled with concern. As he stroked her head, he began to relax. Hardly any monsters, a self-sustaining home, and the start of a new day. Everything was only looking up. He shouldn't be worried.

So why did he feel so unnerved?

* * *

After unloading the ores and unneeded contents of his backpack into his storage room, feeding the chickens in the chicken coop, as well as harvesting all the wheat, Steve felt ready to locate some sheep. He knew there was a grazing herd of sheep that patrolled the border of the forest- he would check there first.

With a pair of shears, he left his house with Layla. He decided to bring the wolf along, as she hadn't been outside for a while and he didn't like cooping her up too long. Besides, she wasn't likely to cause trouble along the way. Now, she looked extremely happy, bounding along ahead of him and sniffing the bases of trees, tail wagging excitedly.

Steve located the sheep herd on the outskirts of the forest, just across the river, as he had suspected. They seemed to have mated since he spotted them last, and many white, black, and brown lambs were bleating and stumbling after their mothers. They didn't seem to mind as he approached- some of the sheep gave him a bored look before continuing their grazing, but most didn't acknowledge him at all. Even when he started shearing them. All the better.

He didn't want to shear the lambs, despite their soft wool. He wasn't sure if the shears would hurt them, or if their mothers would behave aggressively if he was caught handling them. Therefore, he stuck to shearing the adults, mostly the ones who paid him no mind as he conspicuously sneaked up and began shearing off their coats. Layla didn't stick around to watch, instead bouncing around joyfully and curiously sniffing the sheep. The animals ignored her as well, although they cast her wary glances. Steve knew why- wild wolves were prone to hunting sheep and their young.

Shearing the sheep took several minutes to execute completely. He entered a steady loop of shearing the sheep, store the wool in backpack, find another sheep, repeat. He had to admit that the sheep looked rather bare and silly without their wool, but at least it grows back within a couple days. Eventually, Layla grew tired of playing around with the sheep and began watching Steve shear. It was tedious and boring, but he could deal with it.

A couple hours later, the sun was high in the sky, and Steve had a backpack full to the brim of wool. Maybe he had collected too much. Perhaps he could find another use for the extra material somehow.

Just as Steve was pondering his route back to his house, Layla suddenly started yelping and barking wildly. His attention shot upwards just in time to see a purplish, glowing distortion rapidly forming in the sky above the forest. The ground rumbled slightly, and the sheep herd went into a frenzy as they halted their grazing and began to run in the opposite direction, bleating madly.

The distortion in the sky swirled like a funnel cloud, and it brightened until it was blinding to look at, then with a blast of light, something shot towards the ground with a large, deafening explosion. Birds panicked and flew away from the site, screeching loudly.

Then, the light dimmed, and the distortion eased and faded away, leaving an unnatural silence.

Steve stood there, transfixed for several moments, trying to comprehend what just happened. Then, without warning, Layla sprinted off in the direction of the explosion.

"Layla, where are you going?" Steve yelled. However, the wolf made no indication that she was turning around. After a split second's hesitation, he ran after her.

His wolf was running at full speed, and her smaller size allowed her to dart through trees with relative ease. Steve wasn't so lucky, however. Despite him also having agility and speed from living as a lone survivalist, he still had to constantly slow down to avoid tripping over stray roots or crashing into tree trunks. Thankfully, Layla seemed to be keeping to one direction, so even after he lost sight of her he had no difficulty in pinpointing her location.

As he ran, he noted how several trees had been blown back by the impact of the explosion. As he got closer, some trees had even been knocked over directly.

Finally, he heard an excited _yip_ from Layla, and he found the impact site. It was a crater, several meters in diameter, the ground turned dark and filthy with debris. And in the center was Layla, wagging her tail excitedly.

Except she wasn't the only thing in the center.

Directly at the feet of the wolf, and at the precise center of the crater, was a human. A teenager, looking more or less 2-3 years younger than Steve. He had solid black hair that was oddly shaggy, going down his neck and covering his ears. He was wearing clothing that appeared to be foreign- a white shirt made of some leathery fabric Steve had never seen before, and black jeans that appeared to be made out of the same kind of material. He also had a black cape- reason for wearing it was beyond him. The boy was clearly unconscious, curled up in an almost tormented position, occasionally twitching slightly as though he was in some pain.

Layla was ignoring all of this, though, and was looking directly at Steve with that wagging tail and stupidly happy grin again, as though she had just discovered a shiny bone in the backyard and was awaiting a chicken leg as a reward.

Steve cautiously approached, unsure of what action to take in this situation. People didn't just randomly fall from the sky... at least, none that he knew of. And despite the long fall seeming as though it should have killed the young man, aside from dust covering his body he was perfectly unscathed. In addition, he didn't seem to be anywhere close to here, and was out cold. This wasn't what the miner would call a _normal _situation.

His wolf seemed to notice that her master was investigating, as she finally stopped waiting for chicken legs, and began nudging the boy's body with her nose curiously.

Without warning, the person suddenly let out a groan.

Layla jumped initially, then her tail started wagging again with unrestrained excitement. After noticing a hand signal from Steve, she backed up and gave the other human his distance as he struggled to consciousness.

The boy seemed too weakened to push himself to his feet, so he improvised by struggling into a sitting position instead. Steve noted, for the first time, how he had very striking red eyes, although they were dulled from the lethargy of awakening. He had certainly never seen that eye color around here before...

The stranger looked at the surrounding area, a look of utter disbelief and confusion rising on his face as he became aware of his environment. He didn't seem to notice Steve... until Layla couldn't control herself anymore, and rush-tackled the stranger to the ground and started licking his face.

Needless to say, the teenager freaked out.

"AAAUGH GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF-"

He roughly shoved the wolf off him, giving her a quite frightened look as he backed up- it was as though he had never seen a creature like her before. Layla retreated to Steve's side, and the boy seemed to notice the other human's presence for the first time. After the initially startled expression, he glared at him with a blatantly hostile look.

"Who the_ hell_ are you?" He demanded in a snarling tone.

* * *

**So, who likes cliffhangers? Who likes cliffhangers? Who likes cliffhangeeeeeeers~**

**Steve and Jomei meet! And I introduce Steve's sugar-crazed wolf, Layla. Please don't ask about the character's ages, because I really don't care in the story. Steve IS older than Jomei, but only by a couple years, I assume.**

**And the random POV in the beginning of the chapter does have significance. It'll be explained later on.**

**Fun Fact of the Chapter: Did you know that I made the concept of this story before the End existed, and it had a very different (bad) plotline?**

**Additional Fun Fact: Xavier from the last chapter is an extremely minor character, existing only to move the plot along. Odds are he won't be seen from again, but he'll be mentioned a few times. Funnily enough, in the early drafts of the story he was the original antagonist...**

**Read and review~**

**(Something seems awkward about this chapter, but I can't pinpoint what...)**


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